Precious
by Abboz
Summary: Set pre-SwitchVerse. For the first time since Tony was born, Pete and Jackie leave the house without him, whilst reluctant to say goodbye to the three week old boy they know Rose will take good care of him, cheering him up with stories of her Doctor.


"Mum, listen to him, just go or you're gonna miss the reservation." Rose stepped closer to Jackie, delicately stroking Tony's cheek; he was curled up in his mother's arms, blue eyes wide as he smiled up at her. "Look he's fine, he's happy, and it's just dinner, you'll only be a couple of hours and you know I can look after him."

"Of course I know that." She looked down at the baby boy, rubbing his nose and smiling as he giggled. "Hello."

"Jacks, come on love." Pete gently brushed her hair behind her ear. "It _is_ your favourite restaurant. Let me spoil you for a couple of hours." When she looked at him he rubbed her nose with a smile, deliberately mimicking her action. "I just want to have some time to ourselves so I can make you feel as beautiful as you are and remind you how much you mean to me, I love you."

She smiled. "I know you do; he's proof of that."

"Not enough."

"And so's Rose."

"Still not enough." He stroked her hair. "I'm still gonna spend every day showing you that I love you, this is just part of that." He cupped her cheek, looking her in the eye. "You will never know how much I love you."

"Pete." She beamed at him. "I'd be hugging you right now if I wasn't holding him." Rose carefully took Tony from her, letting Jackie step into Pete's embrace. "I love you so much."

He leant his head against hers, a smile spreading across his face. "I know; you gave me these two, our beautiful children." He lightly kissed her forehead. "Now _come on_, two hours just you and me and a nice dinner that neither of us has to cook." She smiled but still looked hesitant. "You've already got ready and you look amazing, you'd never know that we've got a three week old baby." He could hardly take his eyes off her; having finally managed to coax her into dressing up for the night, she had donned a light blue dress that flattered her curves, showing just how quickly she'd lost the baby weight.

"Exactly, he's only three weeks old, and so tiny and precious. Can you blame me for not wanting to leave him?" Pete watched her as she spoke, suddenly smiling with a touch of laughter. "What?"

"It just came flooding over me; you were just like this with Rose."

She smiled, relaxing. "Yeah, yeah I was. I can't believe you remember that."

"'Course I remember."

"Alright." She slightly nodded. "Of course I'll come, on one condition."

He grinned. "What's that?"

Jackie stepped away from him back towards Rose. "You're not to do any work while we're gone, if I need a break so do you."

"He's gonna have a hundred percent of my attention I promise." She held Tony's tiny hand, brushing her thumb across his fingers. "Aren't you, gorgeous?" Rose held him closer when he began to wriggle in her arms, hoping the sound of her heartbeat would calm him before their mother read anything into it.

Jackie smiled, knowing Tony had already become so attached to his sister warmed her heart and it gave her peace of mind to know that if anything happened to her and Pete Rose would give him the best care in the world. "I love you both." She wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leaning down to press a kiss to Tony's head. "We'll be back soon." She stepped back from them, closing her eyes. "Pete."

He slipped his hand into hers, tugging her towards the door. "Come on, can't have you changing your mind again." He picked her coat up off the stand, knowing she would get cold later. "Bye Rose, bye Tony."

As Pete shut the door behind them and Rose heard her mum's slightly pained goodbye, she returned her attention to Tony, smiling to encourage him to smile back. She carried him through to the living room, briefly frowning when he began to cry. "Hey, come on, don't cry." She held his head against her, rocking him back and forth. "It's alright, Mummy and Daddy will be back soon, and I'm not going anywhere." She gently rubbed his palm, letting him curl his fingers around hers. "Oh Tony." She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "I wish you could understand; you don't need to worry, they'll be back in a couple of hours. I know you know how much they love you, but they love each other too; they want to spend some time together, just the two of them. You've got me though; you can have some fun with your big sister, yeah?"

When his crying only slightly eased off and he gripped her finger tighter she sighed. "What's wrong, eh? Is something really wrong?" She shifted a hand underneath him. "It's not that, and you're warm enough aren't you? And you can't be hungry, mum only just fed you." She sat on the sofa, holding him so he could see her. "Shh, come on gorgeous. How can I cheer you up then? Shall I just keep talking? Want to hear a story?"

His crying quietened a bit as he watched her with apparent hope, earning himself a grin. "That sound good? Yeah, how about I tell you a magical story? Do you want to hear about the TARDIS?" He burbled, tears subsiding as he looked at her with wide eyes. "Yeah does that sound good? A story about that magic blue box, the TARDIS and the incredible man I travelled the stars with?" She blinked back the tears in her eyes, hoping her baby brother wouldn't sense her sadness. "I'm gonna tell you all about the Doctor, he's amazing, and you know how I said Mummy and Daddy love each other? Well I love the Doctor, I'm in love with him like they're in love and I can't wait for you to meet him."

She smiled at how enchanted Tony looked. "There's no one like him in the _whole _Universe! He lives in this beautiful blue box, the TARDIS, and it's amazing because it's _huge_ inside but on the outside it's just a small box that you wouldn't think much would fit in. When I was living in the TARDIS, I found all kinds of rooms, a gigantic wardrobe that was stories high, a room like an attic that's filled with all kinds of intergalactic treasures, a _giant_ swimming pool, and oh so much more. You should see the bedrooms in that place Tony, massive but so unique and you can make them completely your own and it's amazing because you see the TARDIS is alive, she feels and she can think and if she really likes you, and I know she'll love you, then she will communicate with you, she'll show you where to go and shift things to suit you, like…" She smiled at the memory. "Like when she moved some of my things to the Doctor's room, just to make a point. And this amazing TARDIS isn't just an amazing home, but she's a time machine, she travels in time and space; Time And Relative Dimension In Space her name means. You can see amazing planets and go to the future and see _anything_ you could ever dream of and never get bored, there's always somewhere new to go, some new adventure to have and every day is amazing."

She bit her lip for a moment, fighting back the tears in fear of setting Tony off again; he was watching her, smiling, blue eyes wide. "But you know what? That's not even the best bit, not the travelling and not even the TARDIS, not for me, as much as I love her. The _best_ bit of it all was meeting the Doctor. Trust me he's gonna love you, and you'll love him too because he is so clever, and so funny and loving and affectionate and geeky and oh he's just entirely beautiful. The best thing about travelling with him was always being with him, my amazing Doctor because I fell completely in love with him, he makes me so happy, he loves me with all his hearts, even when he has two, and look at me here blubbing and babbling at you, that's another thing about him, he _loves_ to babble. I could probably sit here for hours talking to you about him, but you don't want that do you?" Tony didn't react. "No you don't. You're going to hear all about him anyway, when you're a bit older and will understand a bit more and not think I'm crazy when I talk about being in love with him."

Rose could have sworn he was trying to scowl at her. "Oh you clever boy, you're starting to understand already aren't you? Because Mummy and Daddy surround you with love, you see they're in love don't you?" She smiled. "Could it be that you see it in me when I talk about the Doctor?" He lightly giggled, reaching to hold her hand. "Oh Tony, my beautiful little brother." She raised him a little to rub her nose against his. "I'm gonna get back to him, you know? And I know it's gonna be hard but it's gonna be worth it. And when you meet him he's gonna give you a big cuddle and I bet you'll be best friends in an instant, he's gonna love you."

She kissed his forehead. "Tony, I know you might not always understand why I'm upset or why I'm working so hard but I promise I'll be the best big sister to you, I'll play with you whenever you want and do everything to help raise you, teach you things too and I know you'll always be there to give me a cuddle when I need it, yeah?" She stroked his cheek. "Oh I can't wait to get back to the Doctor; I want all five of us to be a family. I just need to hear his voice again, feel his arms around me and his lips against mine. I miss him so much." She smiled, realising she was crying as Tony reached out towards her face. "Look at me, silly Rose, eh? But no worrying about me." She rubbed his nose, grinning as he screwed up his face and tried to reach for her hand. "Everything's gonna be alright again soon, I promise."


End file.
